Revisiting Our Troops In Foreign Countries

The Democrats and left leaning RINO's have a mantra that keeps my mind in a constant state of anxiety. "Bring the troops home from Iraq Now".

Not unlike the protesters during the Vietnam war, the cry is to save the lives of our service men and women by withdrawal. Never mind that withdrawal leaves those left behind vulnerable to massacre.

Seldom do you hear the argument made for the withdrawal of troops from Korea, Germany or Japan.

U.S. troops in Europe and Asia dwarfs the small numbers of troops stationed in the other three regions: Africa, the Middle East, and the Amer­icas (excluding the United States).

During the second half of the 20th century, 52 percent of deployed troops were in Europe and 41 per­cent in Asia. More than one-third of troop deployments during 1950–2000 were to Ger­many alone, which hosted over 10,000,000 U.S. military personnel. source: US government archives

United States has troops in 70 percent of the world’s countries. The average American could probably not locate half of these 135 countries on a map.

Regular troop strength ranges from a low of 1 in Malawi to a high of 74,796 in Germany. At the time the most recent "Personnel Strengths" was released by the government (September 30, 2003), there were 183,002 troops deployed to Iraq, an unspecified number of which came from U.S. forces in Germany and Italy. The total number of troops deployed abroad as of that date was 252,764, not including U.S. troops in Iraq from the United States. Total military personnel on September 30, 2003, was 1,434,377.

On average, 2.3 million U.S. troops were on duty per year from 1950–2000. Of this average, 535,000 troops (23 percent of all military personnel) were deployed on foreign soil. The pattern of deployment varies over time, as deployment loca­tions and levels respond to changing threats as well as for­eign wars.

President Bush's proposed redeployment of 70,000 troops from foreign countries to domestic bases has been greeted as a major movement, but it needs to be kept in perspective. An average of 311,870 troops were stationed in Europe per year during 1986–1990. That force was slashed by two-thirds after the Berlin Wall fell, to an average of 109,452 troops per year during 1996–2000. This is a very small number when you consider that the Great Bear of Russia is once again raising their military might under Putin's directive.

No other military in world history has been so widely deployed as that of the United States. Troop deployments are overwhelmingly supportive of host countries, and warm relations between sol­diers and local populations are generally the norm. How­ever, the first priority in deployment strategy is not a particular foreign government’s desire to keep a certain number of American troops in its country, but the American need to align its forces against contemporary and future threats. source:Tim Kane/Heritage Foundation

In my not so humble opinion, the cry for withdrawal is more of a hope and ploy to have the USA lose another war, than a sincere desire to save our troops from more casualties. The troops in every foreign Country are at risk, especially those in Korea, where there has been a "cease fire" with the Communists from the North and their co-conspirator China. But nobody has called for their withdrawal for the 50 years they have been deployed!

Let us not forget that if Iran is successful in developing nuclear weapons, they will pose a threat to the whole Middle East and in the not to distant future to USA. Wouldn't we be better off keeping a strong force in the Middle East rather than have to make a mass movement of troops and equipment to the field of battle when needed? And don't be deluded by Leftists like Barrack Hussein Obama who say we can talk our enemies to resolve their differences with us!